The Armadillo String Quartet plays P.D.Q. Bach

If you fall into a certain age range and were fortunate enough to have musical education growing up, you undoubtedly had a music teacher who thought P.D.Q. Bach was just the cat’s pajamas. Which he is. P.D.Q., also known as (Johann) Peter Schickele, is a composer, comedian, and educator—think a more slapstick Victor Borge. Schickele has composed a great deal of music both as himself (Peter), and as P.D.Q., a fictional offspring of J.S.—humorous takes on classical and baroque conventions, much of it on the punny side (The Abduction of Figaro, the Trite Quintet).

Among Schickele’s many fans are the Armadillo String Quintet, who present, at least in this photo, as the Blues Brothers of the classical world. They’ve been performing together all over Los Angeles since 1980, and have been playing the work of P.D.Q. for nearly as long: their show this coming Monday (the 23rd, 7:30 p.m.) at the Neighborhood Church is their “21st Annual Music by Peter Schickele concert.” They’ll be joined by trumpeter James Wilt, pianist Joanne Pearce Martin, and musicological commentator extraordinaire… Peter Schickele! So that’s pretty cool.

On a completely unrelated note, the Nahuatl word for “armadillo” is azotochtli, which means “turtle-rabbit.” That’s also pretty cool, but still not as much as Peter Schickele coming to Pasadena for a performance of his own work, including the world premiere of a new piece, “Music for Judy.” PDQED.